Primal family - Page 6

[HeckedyPeg]

I haven't had a chance to read the entire thread, but DH and I have been considering going paleo/primal. I first heard about a paelo lifestyle about 8 years ago while studying anthropology, my teachers mentioned it several times and an old school book (The Paleolithic Prescription by Eaton, Shostak and Konner), which I read and found fascinating, but never tried it. My DH stumbled upon Mark Sissons work about a year ago, and he's been bugging me to get into ever since. I am finishing up my masters in Trad. Chinese medicine, and we have our own nutrition/dietary structure, but it seems to meld well with the paleo/primal thing.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading up and jumping in soon! I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions! :)

[Koalamom]

Welcome Marcelle! Feel free to ask away as this place has been all the info I needed to eat this way. These ladies know so much.



What about cold homemade meatballs with an orange or apple for a protein/fruit?

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

What will you be doing with the mandan? Is that going to be your primary housing or something?

No not a primary residence but perhaps a summer home. I just feel so primal when I build a fire and cook food I have gathered wild. Sleeping on the ground also feels so natural to me.

[Lazurii]

Okay, I'm trying to eat more primalistic and I'm having a hard time thinking of snacks for the kids.  I leave a plate of snacks out for my son before I go to bed in the hopes that I'll get a few more hours in the morning to sleep.  He's always waking up at the crack of dawn, hungry but still tired.

I can't think of many high protein snacks that I can leave out for at least 8 hours.  We do cheese and nut butters.  I try to give him high fat snacks to help, like pork rinds or coconut butter.  I'm sure I could make some jerky, but I don't know if he would eat it, he's not big into meat.

We also give him a lot of raw veggies and fruits and he loves those.  I also make pancakes from pork rind flour and those are nice because he thinks he's eating something carbo-loaded but he's not.

Any ideas?

[crayfishgirl]

Originally Posted by Lazurii 

I can't think of many high protein snacks that I can leave out for at least 8 hours.  We do cheese and nut butters.  I try to give him high fat snacks to help, like pork rinds or coconut butter.  I'm sure I could make some jerky, but I don't know if he would eat it, he's not big into meat.

We also give him a lot of raw veggies and fruits and he loves those.  I also make pancakes from pork rind flour and those are nice because he thinks he's eating something carbo-loaded but he's not.

Any ideas?

I never ate a lot of "white food", but my husband (an admitted bread whore) has been eating paleo since January.  I make a kind of cookie/treat for him of almond butter and shredded coconut, sweetened with a little stevia.  I roll those into bite size balls and then roll them in cocoa powder.  I don't have an exact recipe because it depends on how runny the almond butter is....I just mix enough coconut into it to make the mixture pretty stiff so its not gooey and will hold its shape.  I've made them without stevia and they're still good if you don't use any sweeteners (which I think is technically not allowed).  They're pretty delicious, and pretty filling.

[sosurreal09]

How about a Larabar? Filling, not messy, easy to eat, convenient! Maybe pricey though....I saw them 10 for $10 the other day...

I suppose you could make your own, doesn't seem complicated.

[Lazurii]

Crayfishgirl, that sounds yummy!  I sometimes make a pseudo-fudge using coconut butter, nut butter, cocoa/carob powder, and honey if you like.  You might need to warm it to mix it.  Chill if you feel like it or eat with a spoon (can you tell what I usually do?    Or, used to do, coconut seems to give me fits.  Itchy, sore throat, difficulty swallowing, I'm so sad.  )

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

How about a Larabar? Filling, not messy, easy to eat, convenient! Maybe pricey though....I saw them 10 for $10 the other day...

I suppose you could make your own, doesn't seem complicated.

  I forgot, we make those, too.  Sometimes I worry because of all the dried fruit, BuggaBoo has cavities we're working on.  When I do make them I like to use figs instead of dates.

Darn it, why can't you just leave eggs out overnight?  Blah!

[lovestolearn]

Originally Posted by Lazurii 

Darn it, why can't you just leave eggs out overnight?  Blah!

Why not get a small cooler that he can open.  The soft-sided ones have a zip.  You can put an ice pack inside & leave him eggs, cheese or a smoothie...

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by Lazurii I also make pancakes from pork rind flour and those are nice because he thinks he's eating something carbo-loaded but he's not.

Hmm! Got recipe? Do they taste...porky?

[Lazurii]

Lovestolenarn, that is an amazing idea about the cooler.  I must implement that immediately!

Maiasaura, I've been wanting to work on a honest-to-goodness-with-measurements recipe, but I can tell you how I do it in the meantime.

Grind up pork rinds in the blender or food processor until like flour.  This keeps for a long time.  Well, I'm assuming that because you can keep pork rinds at room temp forever.

In a clean blender use 2-3 eggs, a banana, a bit of honey (optional, I use it 50% of the time), healthy dose of cinnamon, ground cardamom is good, a small chunk of zucchini (optional, the zucchini blends nicely and adds liquid), salt, coconut oil.  Milk would be nice, I'm sure, but we don't keep milk around.

Pour the egg mixture into a bowl.  Add some pork rind flour.  I usually use about 1/2 cup.  It will thicken after standing for a bit so start out thinner than you like.  Then cook it up like pancakes.  This makes 5-6 good sized pancakes.

ETA:  I don't think they taste porky, but maybe a bit like there was bacon in the pan before you cooked the pancakes.  I love them and so does everyone else I've had try them.

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by Lazurii Maiasaura, I've been wanting to work on a honest-to-goodness-with-measurements recipe, but I can tell you how I do it in the meantime.

Oh, dang, I don't use bananas or honey...I wonder how I could tweak it. Hmm. Thanks! Maybe just eggs...What does the banana serve? Sweet? Thickness? I can use stevia for sweet if I need. I wonder if coconut flour might do. Or almond. Along with the pork rinds.

[Lazurii]

I'm sure stevia would work.  The banana helps to thicken and sweeten so we use less honey, but I'm sure you could replace it with an egg.  It would be eggier, but that's just fine! 

How do you feel about jicama?  That stuff tastes pretty sweet, that might do well.  Do you not do any fruit?  Maybe berries instead of banana?

[Maiasaura]

Originally Posted by Lazurii 

I'm sure stevia would work.  The banana helps to thicken and sweeten so we use less honey, but I'm sure you could replace it with an egg.  It would be eggier, but that's just fine! 

How do you feel about jicama?  That stuff tastes pretty sweet, that might do well.  Do you not do any fruit?  Maybe berries instead of banana?

I haven't had jicama in forever. It might work! I'm not worried about sweetness so much as consistency. I do a limited amount of apple or strawberries right now. I'm VERY low carbing it, with some veggies...I'm on phase 2 of the Hcg diet (again, lol) and will soon be in phase 3, where I can have much more fat and much more of a variety of fruits and veggies, but I do plan to limit fruit more than I have before. Just looking for something new to have when it's time! But bananas, no, not for a long time will I have those. When I'm on phase 3 I can have some, very limited, and not very often. I love them, though! Berries would work but they might make the batter too runny? Think?

[Lazurii]

Maiasaura, if I remember correctly you can do apples on HCG, right?  Applesauce, or maybe even raw apple, would work.  I just remembered, I have made this without a banana and the texture was fine.  I don't think I even added another egg.

That's it, I'll have to make this for dinner tonight and post an actual recipe!

[miss_sonja]

(subbing)

I've been casually primal (didn't really know it had a name when I started) since late June. I just had a feeling that I should start avoiding grains. Since then, I've been moving the rest of the family to a mostly-primal style.  I'm not super strict and refuse to be--I'm not giving up coffee or my glass of wine. And, I haven't gone through and thrown out a bunch of existing food. We'll just use up the non-primal stuff slowly and not buy more. I don't have any health problems such as diabetes or high cholesterol/blood pressure, but I do want to lose about 10 more pounds--lost about 10 in the first few weeks of doing this. DH also doesn't have health issues, but diabetes and depression run in his family and those are both linked to a conventional SAD diet. 

We don't do totally organic/pastured because of cost. We eat mostly meats of various kinds, some dairy, eggs, vegetables of all sorts (avoiding the really starchy ones though), all fruits, nuts & nut butters. I'm easing into coconut oil and lard for cooking. 

I like Mark's Daily Apple a lot; the forums there are full of information. I also love Gary Taubes--his books are the ones I recommend to folks I talk to about low-carb/primal because his writing is so precise and he has references for every assertion. 

Read a tasty-sounding pancake recipe recently on MDA...mash up ripe banana. Add an egg and some almond butter. Blend. Cook like pancakes, but turn carefully as they are delicate. Haven't tried these yet as I need to get some smooth almond butter for the kid who doesn't like crunchy stuff. 

[Metasequoia]

Originally Posted by Lazurii 

Okay, I'm trying to eat more primalistic and I'm having a hard time thinking of snacks for the kids.  I leave a plate of snacks out for my son before I go to bed in the hopes that I'll get a few more hours in the morning to sleep.  He's always waking up at the crack of dawn, hungry but still tired.

I can't think of many high protein snacks that I can leave out for at least 8 hours.  We do cheese and nut butters.  I try to give him high fat snacks to help, like pork rinds or coconut butter.  I'm sure I could make some jerky, but I don't know if he would eat it, he's not big into meat.

We also give him a lot of raw veggies and fruits and he loves those.  I also make pancakes from pork rind flour and those are nice because he thinks he's eating something carbo-loaded but he's not.

Any ideas?

Pork rind flour pancake recipe please! :)
 

[Metasequoia]

Sorry, I should have read the rest of the posts!
 

Originally Posted by Metasequoia 

Pork rind flour pancake recipe please! :)
 

[Lazurii]

Metasequoia, that's okay, I want to get a recipe up that uses actual measurements.  ;)

[lookatreestar]

what a creative way to use pork rinds! where do you purchase them? i know my dh gets them from the ranchito market place but i don't know how they are cooked or if they are cooked in good oil or rendered or what. i am assuming they are different than the ones that come in the bag at the corner store?

[mamaspirit]

Someone was asking about this kind of diet and thyroid function.

I had severe hypothyroidism and was on a pretty high dose of synthetic thyroid hormone.  I haven't been super strict with this with diet, but I have been eating paleo/primal since January and I've decreased my med amount to a very small dose and actually after my last blood level, my doctor told me to think about trying to come off of it all the way and see how it is.  My symptoms are totally gone and I feel better than I have in years!

We have had yummy food today! 

Breakfast was -

Bacon, eggs and fresh picked blackberries with coconut cream

Lunch was -

Baked salmon with sauteed onions, scallions, sundried tomatoes, garlic and chicken stock

Fresh salad from our garden and pickles that I made a couple weeks ago

Snack will be-

green smoothies with bananas, fresh picked blueberries, carrots, kale, lettuce, fresh green peas

Dinner will be-

Crock pot beef stew which I started this morning and has been cooking out on my porch all day so it doesn't heat up my house :)

Muffins made with almond flour and blueberries, which I won't eat because nuts and I haven't been friends lately, but my kids and husband will gobble them up!

I have been doing a lot of food processing lately.  We have huge fields of wild growing blackberries within walking distance and I have been picking a couple quarts of them each day the past couple weeks.  We have also picked quite a few blueberries.  My garden has started producing gobs of squash and cucumbers and I have pickling quite a few.  Tomatoes are close to being ripe.  I've also been making cranberry ketchup, different kinds of chutneys and relishes to spice up our winter, of course all of them paleo/primal.